We’ve just gotten back from Houston, Texas where we had the immense opportunity to workshop our piece The Corrido of the San Patricios in the Sin Muros Festival through our friends at Stages Repertory Theatre. We are so humbled to have been invited to present this wonderful and relevant story to the community.

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM DOING THE EL TEATRO CAMPESINO STOMP!

We could feel how meaningful this Latinx theatre festival is to the theatre community of Houston, we are so thrilled to have been a part of it. We got to reunite with our dear collaborators from El Teatro Campesino (Kinan Valdez, Chas Croslin, and our maestro Noe Yacoatl Montoya), and together we felt the audience there connect to the piece. We are confident now that we are ready to step into full production, and hope to have more to share on that front soon!

In the meantime, please enjoy some of our favorite memories from our time there.

Team members from Radical Evolution (Beto and Meropi) and El Teatro Campesino (Kinan Valdez, Chas Croslin, and Noé Yaocoatl Montoya) are heading to Houston to participate in the Sin Muros Festival at Stages Repertory Theatre! We’re thrilled to be gathering with our compañeros from California once again for this workshop, and to work with local Houston-based actors to continue development of the piece.

There, a pretty impressive group of people - gathered on Monday night to discuss solidarity economy in the performing arts, and how that connects with the idea of Reparations in a larger context. I was invited to speak after submitting an article I wrote, in which I try and figure out what reparations means to me as a non-Black Person of Color. In both the article and at the panel, I grappled with the very real inequities in our performing arts field, and wonder whether there’s any way of getting tackling them through our individual or collective actions. To be totally honest, I was nervous, as a member of the so called "model minority" to be up there, talking about reparations and race and solidarity. After all, what do I know about all this? And wouldn't it be best if I just stayed quiet and agreed with everyone, the way I always used to do?

I figured I had to try, though. It's often all too easy for us "model minority" types to skirt by these really difficult and thorny issues, and when we do, aren't we just re-enforcing the status quo (i.e. whiteness?). And who wants to be doing that in 2018?

So I took the mic, and as soon as I heard my own voice amplified, I stumbled, and fumbled. I stopped, and started and tried to say the things I had meant to say, and maybe managed to articulate about half of them. I stayed honest, though. I was sure about that. And I spoke up. Imperfectly. Like a human. And will keep trying. Imperfectly.

In the end, I committed to decolonizing my own way of thinking, so that instead of asking "is this the most efficient way of doing something”, I ask, "Is this the most humane way of doing it?” It’s a small action step, but one I knew I could do some tangible work on. What about you? Is there something realistic (even if it’s small), that you want to do in your life and/or work to tackle the issue of Reparations? If so, share in the comments so we can inspire and support each other in this work.

Thank you for joining us forTHE CORRIDO OF THE SAN PATRICIOS

By Beto O'ByrneDeveloped with Radical Evolution and El Teatro CampesinoDirected by Kinan Valdez

Saturday, June 14 @ 7 PM&Monday, June 16 @ 7 PM

All proceeds from this work-in-progress presentation were donated to The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. We are honored to share that our community collectively contributed $1,188 to this important organization working on behalf of immigrant children.

In 1846, two hundred US soldiers defect from the American army to fight for Mexico in one of the most unjust conflicts of the 19th century - The Mexican-American War. These Irish immigrants came to be known as Los San Patricios, revered in Mexico and Ireland as folk heroes, and considered traitors to the US military. A collaboration between Radical Evolutionand El Teatro Campesino, this play with music explores a little-known legend to ask pressing questions around immigration, citizenship, and what happens when people follow their conscience to actively disrupt political systems.

For more info on the history and development of The Corrido of the San Patricios, click here.This workshop was made possible in part by the MAP Fund, Supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and by Pregones/PRTT's ASAP Artist Space Program.